A lesbian organization will host Philadelphia’s first LGBTQ Women’s Week beginning this weekend. The Strong Catalyst, an organization dedicated to bringing community and visibility to lesbians, will produce 10 events over seven days as part of “The Revolution.”
“There are not a lot of things for specific groups of women currently in the city,” said Strong Catalyst co-founder Amanda Swiger. “There are things for queer people in general. There are things for older lesbian women. There’s not really anything that has the word ‘women’ in it that invites all women under the LGBTQ umbrella and it’s not for a specific age range.”
An LGBTQ Women’s Expo will kick off the week at noon Feb. 25 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. This event will feature more than 40 vendors, with a focus on LGBT women-owned businesses. According to a statement from the Strong Catalyst, the event will provide “everything from pole fitness to photographers, Realtors to clothing companies, community organizations to corporate companies like Tito’s Vodka and Walgreens.”
Additionally, The Revolution’s events will include free and low-cost community forums, parties, burlesque shows, spoken-word performances and open photo shoots.
Swiger said the week is designed to give genuine representation of the word “lesbian.”
“I think on a national level, we don’t see ‘lesbian’ represented outside of two really femme chicks kissing for straight guys, a pornographic kind of setting,” Swiger added. “‘Lesbian’ can look like your next-door neighbor. It can look like somebody who’s femme, somebody who’s butch, somebody who’s black, somebody who’s white, somebody who’s old, somebody who’s young. We’re trying to give more representation than two blonde white chicks making out. That’s not really what being a lesbian is about. We’re trying to create space both on a national level in terms of physical representation and locally, giving space for people who identify like we do.”
Swiger encouraged people to attend the event because of its pioneering nature.
“We have events like Pride and OutFest and I think one of the main complaints is that they are centered on white male voices. These events throughout this week are the exact opposite of that,” Swiger said. “There are so many unique voices in our community that belong to LGBTQ women.”
Visit thestrongcatalyst.com for more information and a full schedule of the LGBTQ Women’s Week.